Just when I said that Nyquist reminded me of Seattle Slew, lo and behold some of the experts come along and agree. Like Slew, Nyquist is dark, underrated and a prodigy, becoming a champ at 2. Like Slew, Nyquist came into the Kentucky Derby undefeated. And like Slew, Nyquist has captured the Derby, the first jewel in the Triple Crown and now moves on to the Preakness May 21.
There are those like Thoroughbred aficionado and art collector Thomas DeChiara who see the hard-charging Exaggerator’s second-place Derby finish to Nyquist as a kind of Affirmed-Alydar rivalry. Could be. Alydar is the only horse in history to finish second in the three Triple Crown races, always to Affirmed, who succeeded Slew as Triple Crown champ in 1978. But for Affirmed, Alydar would’ve won the Triple Crown. ...
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Read MoreBoy, it’s a good thing horses can’t read. Because if they could, they might be really depressed.
Take Nyquist, the 3-1 favorite for the Kentucky Derby later today. He’s undefeated coming into the Derby and has bested many of the challengers. But you’d never know that from the coverage. “Despite His Credentials, Nyquist Has His Doubters” The New York Times headline blared.
There are many reasons for this. There’s nothing in betting on the favorite. The more you win, the closer you are to losing. And people enjoy tearing down a winner perhaps even more than they enjoy getting on a winner’s bandwagon. ...
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Read MoreLike Mark Twain’s death, reports of the demise of Rafael Nadal’s career – often instigated by Rafael Nadal himself – have been greatly exaggerated.
It was just a short while ago as Novak Djokovic blazed through the winter season that Rafa was questioning whether he should go on.
Oh, what a difference a spring (and, let’s face it, Rafa’s favorite surface, clay) can make. Having won in Monte Carlo – where Nole exited early – and Barcelona, Rafa’s back. As if there were any doubt that he would be. ...
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Read MoreWith all the talk about this year’s crop of 3-year-olds for the Kentucky Derby – Will it be the presumptive favorite Nyquist or his gray rival, Mohaymen, or Exaggerator? – I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic for American Pharoah and his glory Triple Crown run last year.
Well, we Pharoah phanatics are about to get a phix: AP is the subject of a new book by Joe Drape that was excerpted in The New York Times.
“American Pharoah,” published by Hachette Books, will be available April 26. ...
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Read MoreWhile American Pharoah is busy making babies, our old friend California Chrome is busy winning races.
CC – who won the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness – earned the richest prize in horse racing, taking the $6-million Dubai World Cup on March 26. The win makes him the all-time moneymaker at $12.4 million. (And he could add to that by entering January’s $12 million Pegasus Championship, which would alternate between the Santa Anita and Gulfstream parks.)
But the real winner here may be Victor Espinoza, who rode the Pharoah, of course, and rides CC as well. ...
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Read MoreDays before Valentine’s Day – Feb. 12 to be exact – American Pharoah had his first date with a mare named Untouched Talent at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky.
"I am thrilled. The mare that is in heat and ovulating is the dam of Bodemeister, a stallion I raced and own," American Pharoah's owner Ahmed Zayat said. "Very excited. Can't wait for little Pharos.”
If all goes well, the first of them will be born 11 months from now. Meanwhile, American Pharoah has taken to his new occupation the way he once took to the track.
“They just told me the first time that they brought him for what they call a test breeding, he was just like he was on the racetrack,” Zayat said. “A champion.”
Indeed, AP seems to be the best kind of performer – competitive enough to be a winner but not so competitive to be difficult off the track. ...
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Read MoreWell, now we have the backlash to the fallout from Serena Williams being named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsperson of the Year.”
How dare she be picked over fan fave American Pharoah, went the fallout.
How dare anyone compare her to a horse or pick an animal over an African-American female athlete, went the backlash.
Let me try to make a nuanced argument here, not the Internet’s forte. Williams was chosen as much for what she symbolizes – African-American female athleticism in a racially troubled country – as for what she has accomplished. ...
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